| In view of continuing economic stagnation and consequent budgetary constraints facing the state, Hawaii public libraries have been concerned with their operational efficiency and library managers have been seeking better methods in allocating limited resources among the libraries. This paper employed data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique to assess the performance and resource utilization efficiency of 47 public libraries in Hawaii. Three output measures-circulation, reader visits, and reference transactions and four input categories- collection, library staff, days open, and nonpersonal expenditures were used in the analysis. For fiscal year 1996/97, the estimated technical efficiency scores for Hawaii State public library branches ranged from 0.45 to... |
